INDIANAPOLIS — Circle City Prep is a tuition free school that works to provide student empowerment to hopefully build future leaders. The Indianapolis charter school located on the city’s far east side opened in 2017.
Roughly 330 students are currently enrolled right now. LarCari Gant is a kindergarten teacher at the school. She says she knows the struggles that some of her student’s face.
“Knowing the things that I went through growing up, 5 sisters a mom and a dad and we lived in poverty,” Gant said.
That’s why she strives to make sure these students have opportunities that she didn’t have at their age.
“Just knowing that the students on this side of the city don’t have the experience and the opportunity to gain things as do students who are further out,” Gant said. The charter school provides a tuition-free learning as well as a free breakfast, lunch and a snack to all students.
A few years ago the school decided to partner with the Patachou Foundationwhich means an onsite chef prepares students breakfast and lunch everyday.
“Within the first month it has changed the dynamic of our school – how kids look at the food,” Founder and Head of Circle City Prep, Megan Murphy said.
At CCP, 93% of the students qualify for free or reduced meals and 87% are students of color. Most are at constant risk for food insecurity.
“How can you focus in class if your basic needs aren’t met – if your number one concern is that I have a stomach ache,” Shannon Mitchell, Culinary director at the Patachou Foundation said.
For Mitchell, she knows all too well the struggles these students face every day. According to the Patachou foundation one in five children in Marion County don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
“I see students choosing to eat a lot more fruits and vegetables when you are offered the opportunity to as opposed to when you are serving them the meal,” Mitchell said.
Right now school leaders are working to raise money for a new state-of-the-art food service model that will hopefully transform health and academic outcomes for students on the far eastside. The goal is to provide about 150,000 meals to students yearly.
You can find a more about the project here.
